Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22614 on 3 February 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at :http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The Scottish Executive is taking a range of measures to ensure the expansion of Gaelic-medium education including the provision of guidance, measures to address teacher shortage, expansion of the secondary curriculum, increased support for pupils and teachers and additional funding for Gaelic-medium education.

There is at present one Gaelic-medium school, which is in the City of Glasgow. There are, however, sixty other schools which provide Gaelic-medium classes in a number of Scottish local authority areas.

The Scottish Executive relies on the Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education to evaluate education provision in Scottish schools, including Gaelic-medium classes, and to advise Scottish ministers. In 2005, HMIE published a report on Gaelic-medium education entitled, Improving Achievement in Gaelic.

In Gaelic-medium education, Gaelic teachers have a key role in developing the language skills of young people. In order to assist with this Storlann, the National Gaelic Resource Centre, provides materials for pupils and support materials for teachers. In particular, Storlann published Facal is Fuaim, (word and sound) last year. This is a phonics scheme to assist with the development of Gaelic phonics for young people in Gaelic-medium classes.

The Executive is committed to ensuring that clinical academics have access to high quality training and integrated career pathways which enable them to pursue their research interests alongside their clinical commitments. The Executive has recently established a committee to consider how best to take forward recommendations contained within the Walport Report for the introduction of high quality integrated career pathways.

There are many routes to a clinical academic career, which reflect the diversity of research, teaching and clinical practice across the different medical specialties. In general, however, doctors wishing to pursue an academic career will usually apply in open competition to a postgraduate medical training position leading to a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) within their chosen specialty, and will then seek to take time-out of their clinical training programme to undertake research and/or to develop their teaching skills in an academic setting. Following completion of this period of research, the trainee will then complete their clinical training.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22305 on 31 January 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Information on the number of clinical academics in each medical school is not held centrally.

Clinical academics employed by higher education institutions or other organisations in a research and/or teaching capacity and who also provide services for NHS patients, at consultant level, in NHS facilities are classified by ISD Scotland as having honorary contracts. ISD Scotland holds data on the number of medical and dental staff within Hospital, Community and Health Services (HCHS) with honorary contracts.

The number of HCHS staff with honorary contracts within NHS Scotland for the last five years is shown in the table. This table includes figures from the 2005 Census, released by ISD Scotland on 26 January 2006.

Year	Number of Honorary Contracts
2001	495
2002	468
2003	438
2004	432
2005	421

 

The following table provides details of the cumulative total of the outstanding student loan balance for Scottish domiciled borrowers from 2000 onwards.

Financial Year	Outstanding Balance (£000)
2000-01	624,591
2001-02	846,008
2002-03	1,061,728
2003-04	1,276,259
2004-05	1,474,569

Source: Student Loans Company.

The production and distribution of exam papers is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). I have asked Anton Colella, the chief executive of SQA, to reply directly to you.

The production and distribution of exam papers is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). I have asked Anton Colella, the Chief Executive of SQA, to reply directly to you.

Transport Scotland officials meet monthly with First ScotRail to review performance on the rail network, including punctuality. This meeting is a franchise commitment and the Scottish Executive play an active role to ensure First ScotRail, in conjunction with other industry partners, are addressing services where there are concerns with performance.

Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Past exam papers are one of a range of useful study aids which school pupils may wish to use to prepare for examinations.